1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of garment hangers. More particularly the present invention relates to the field of specialized garment hangers for hanging sports gear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Garment hangers are old in the art. Over the years many different types of garment hangers have been designed and constructed. The following is a list of pertinent prior art patents in this field.
1. U.S. Pat. No. Des. D204,342 issued to Larkin on Apr. 5, 1966 for "Haberdashery Hanger" (hereafter the "Larkin Design Patent"). PA1 2. U.S. Pat. No. Des. D164,710 issued to Perry on Oct. 2, 1951 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Perry Design Patent"). PA1 3. U.S. Pat. No. Des. D162,261 issued to Tuma on Feb. 27, 1951 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Tuma Design Patent"). PA1 4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,650 issued to Mauffette on May 28, 1991 for "Tamper Proof Hanger With Interchangeable Shoulder Cups" (hereafter the "Mauffette Patent"). PA1 5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,043 issued to Uke on Dec. 18, 1990 for "Hanger For Wetsuit Accessories And The Like" (hereafter the "Uke Patent"). PA1 6. U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,154 issued to Schwartz et al. on Jun. 15, 1976 for "Garment Hanger Construction" (hereafter the "Schwartz Patent"). PA1 7. U.S. Pat. No. 3,036,748 issued to Babkes on May 29, 1962 for "Auxiliary Garment Support" (hereafter the "Babkes Patent"). PA1 8. U.S. Pat. No. 3,002,662 issued to Albright on Oct. 3, 1961 for "Clothes Hanger" (hereafter the "Albright Patent"). PA1 9. U.S. Pat. No. 2,813,666 issued to Gray on Nov. 19, 1957 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Gray Patent"). PA1 10. U.S. Pat. No. 2,576,612 issued to Latvala on Nov. 27, 1951 for "Clothes Hanger" (hereafter the "Latvala Patent"). PA1 11. U.S. Pat. No. 2,544,886 issued to Kuhn on Mar. 13, 1951 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Kuhn Patent"). PA1 12. U.S. Pat. No. 2,499,538 issued to Stanton on Mar. 7, 1950 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Stanton Patent"). PA1 13. U.S. Pat. No. 2,425,829 issued to Rosenberg on Aug. 19, 1947 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Rosenberg Patent"). PA1 14. U.S. Pat. No. 2,129,871 issued to Reed on Sep. 13, 1938 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Reed Patent"). PA1 15. U.S. Pat. No. 2,025,114 issued to Legus on Dec. 24, 1935 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Legus Patent"). PA1 16. U.S. Pat. No. 1,619,992 issued to Smith on Mar. 8, 1927 for "Garment Hanger" (hereafter the "Smith Patent"). PA1 17. U.S. Pat. No. 1,309,983 issued to Golar on Jul. 15, 1919 for "Garment Supporter" (hereafter the "Golar Patent"). PA1 18. U.S. Pat. No. 1,295,094 issued to Ackermann on Feb. 25, 1919 for "Garment Support" (hereafter the "Ackermann Patent").
The three design patents disclose three different designs for garment hangers. The Tuma Design Patent discloses a three-level garment hanger, the Perry Design Patent discloses a garment hanger having three lateral hooks at each side, and the Larkin Design Patent discloses a shield shaped haberdashery hanger.
The Mauffette Patent discloses a tamper-proof garment hanger having gripping arms slidably and lockably attached with hanger arms. The gripping arms are provided with interchangeable shoulder cups. The gripping arms can be slid down and locked to make the top hook a closed loop so that the hanger may not be removed from a hanging bar.
The Uke patent discloses a hanger 10 designed for holding water sports accessories. The Uke patent hanger 10 is a unitary piece having a hook 12 integrally formed with an elongated neck 14. The elongated neck 14 further connects with a horizontal crossbar 16, which in turn supports two outer fingers 18 and 20 for holding diving booties, two inner fingers 22 and 24 for holding diving gloves, and a curved bottom member 26 for holding a diving hood. The disadvantage of the Uke patent is that first, it has no means for hanging a wetsuit; second, the two outer fingers 18 and 20 for hanging booties are bending inwardly which makes it very difficult to place the booties on or remove the booties from the outer fingers 18 and 20, and further crimples the booties when they are hung on the outer fingers; and third, when the gloves and booties are all hung on the Uke hanger 10, there is very little space left in between, which greatly reduces the effect of drying.
The Schwartz patent discloses a hook member 11 for a hanger. The hook member 11 has an elongated shank portion 12. The shank portion 12 comprises two oppositely projecting flanges 14 that are adapted to be collapsibly flexed toward each other when the elongated shank portion 12 is inserted into a vertical hole 21 on the top of a hanger 20. Annular steps 22 are provided on the sidewall of the vertical hole 21 for allowing the projecting flanges 14 to engage therein.
The Babkes patent discloses an auxiliary wire frame which can be attached and used together with a wire hanger. The auxiliary wire frame may expand to a crisscross structure for additional retaining facilities.
The Albright patent discloses a hanger having a telescoping tubing structure. It also has a hook member 25 having an elongated shank portion 31 rotatably attached to the telescoping tubes 11 and 12 of an adjustable hanger 10 and retained therein by a plug 26, which is in turn inserted inside the telescoping tubes 11 and 12.
The Gray Patent discloses a garment hanger having two additional press-on hook-like retainers. Each press-on hook-like retainers has two slots for snap-in engagement with a wire frame hanger.
The Latvala Patent discloses a clothes hanger having multiple horizontal beams for holding a multiplicity of flat garments. The multiple horizontal beams are all positioned in parallel next to one another.
The Kuhn patent discloses a garment hanger 1 for hanging a football suit and hooking football trousers. It comprises a spreader 1, a spacer plate 5 and a conventional hanger 7. It further comprises a top hook 6 fixedly mounted on the spacer plate 5. The conventional hanger 7 is generally triangular shaped for holding the football suit. The spreader 1 has many hook-like members 2, 3, and 4 for hooking the football trousers. The hanger is made of metal material.
The Stanton patent discloses a garment hanger having multiple suspension members for holding a coat, a trousers and a vest separately on a same hanger. The multiplicity of suspension members are all aligned in a same plane.
The Rosenberg patent discloses a garment hanger having two inwardly disposed horizontal bottom beams which have spaced notches for preventing the garment from sliding. The straps of a garment may be retained by the notches for hanging the garment.
The Reed patent discloses a generally triangular shaped garment hanger. Each of the two opposite inclined upper edges of the hanger has a re-entrance for retaining shoulder straps of a dress.
The Legus patent discloses a garment hanger having two wire hooks whose locations may be adjusted along a horizontal wire. The horizontal wire is shaped with many teeth shaped steps for fixing the position of the wire hooks.
The Smith patent discloses a garment hanger having an upper part and a lower part. The upper part has two oppositely extended arms for hanging a coat. The lower part has two inwardly disposed horizontal bottom beams for hanging additional flat garments.
The Golar patent discloses a garment hanger having a single wire frame structure. In addition to a regular hanger portion, the wire frame also forms a wire basket for holding a hat.
The Ackermann patent discloses a garment hanger having detachable and slidable hooks. The hooks are attached upon the horizontal beam of the hanger for retaining trousers.
Although a great number of prior art hangers have been disclosed by the prior art patents discussed above, none of them satisfies the need for hanging a whole set of aquatic gear altogether in a spaced apart relationship. A whole set of aquatic gear used by people in water related sports, such as diving, surfing, water skiing and board sailing, includes typically a wetsuit or a drysuit, a pair of gloves, a pair of booties and a hood. The heaviest piece is the suit.
The purpose of having the whole set hung up in a spaced apart relationship is to let them drip and dry as fast as possible while maintaining their forms. Although one hanger may be used to hang a wetsuit and another separate hanger may be used to hang the accessories, it is desirable to use a single hanger upon which such a complete set of aquatic gear can be hung in a spaced apart relationship. Having the whole set of aquatic gear hung together provides a great convenience to the user for carrying and hanging. It also helps to keep a complete set of aquatic gear together. This is particularly helpful in places such as retail shops and storage rooms, where it is highly desirable to keep each individual set of aquatic gear together.